For a lot of people, Leia marypoppinging her way back to the ship was a big-WTF, but the not-casuals know very well that Leia can use the Force (besides of sensing Force users now and then, like in the movies). It happened before in Legacy-books.

Um, I've read all of the Legends novels (books) ranging from the time right after VI and going forward till the beginning of the New Jedi Order book series. As far as I'm aware, that kind of force pull really isn't possible, especially after being exposed to vacuum for that long. Besides that, Leia was never trained in telekinesis in the novels. The most she ever did was use the force for calming herself before stressful situations and using it to help her perceive if someone was lying to her. She was a politician not a Jedi Knight.

The whole point of Legends is that it's stuff that's been decanonized, precisely so the filmmakers can do interesting new stuff without it being backwards-incompatible with older work.

I agree, so why is it that Disney can't seem to write good stories which fit within the Star Wars universe and instead feels the need to kill that universe instead? It's counter productive for the franchise and angers the long standing fan base.

I-VI and Rogue One were all better than VII and VIII. The reason for that is because VII and VIII don't carry the continuity of the other films. Instead they misuse the force and tell a lack luster story which parallels IV - VI that some would wonder if the writers are having writers block. The whole purpose of de-canonizing Legends was so that they could write NEW and EXCITING stories which the audience hasn't been exposed to.

At least Legends didn't repeat the same story 30 times over. I own over 40 Legends books and I can tell you that those were far better stories than the repeating garbage we are currently getting from Disney.

Agree with ever single word BFett. I understand why they made the Legends stuff non-canon, but I think they need to tap into it more to get better ideas for their movies. In some cases, I would pretty much adapt the material directly, for example I think with some changes KOTOR could make a good trilogy. In other cases, I would take characters or basic story ideas. I know they've taken Thrawn and put him in a show, but he's the kind of character that deserves to be in film.

If they wanted to erase the past and start over again, why not just place the new movies hundreds of years in the future?

Everything that happened in episode 4 to 6 is now officially pointless and a total waste of time.

I get way more enjoyment out of watching the Star Wars kiddie cartoon than this garbage.

Maybe they needed to continue the story timeline according to the age of the (now aged) actors of the original: to have well known characters again in the movies. (less so for their part in the story). Its much easier to market, if you have recurring elements that people already know. (Han,Luke,Chewie,Leia, the robots, Admiral Trap)
For those cameos to work, they had not much leeway with the timeline.
(cameo example: R2D2 shows up, but the actual role is taken over by the newer much cuter and easier to "market-as-toy" BB-8 )

BTW: Characters like Thrawn would not work in a 155 minute movie, as introducing him would take quite a bit of time, as he has an established backstory, and did not appear in the movies before. The writers will either take established (movie) characters, or completely new blank slates (Ray, Finn), as there is no backstory to explain.

Before I saw the movie (only available in this dreadful 3D) there was like 5 minutes of advertisement for Star-Wars toys, games and merchandize. This really was a killer for the atmosphere. Made me feel like: "when you are sitting here, you are a man-child, now go online and buy our fan-crap")

If they wanted to erase the past and start over again, why not just place the new movies hundreds of years in the future?

Everything that happened in episode 4 to 6 is now officially pointless and a total waste of time.

I get way more enjoyment out of watching the Star Wars kiddie cartoon than this garbage.

Maybe they needed to continue the story timeline according to the age of the (now aged) actors of the original: to have well known characters again in the movies. (less so for their part in the story). Its much easier to market, if you have recurring elements that people already know. (Han,Luke,Chewie,Leia, the robots, Admiral Trap)
For those cameos to work, they had not much leeway with the timeline.
(cameo example: R2D2 shows up, but the actual role is taken over by the newer much cuter and easier to "market-as-toy" BB-8 )

BTW: Characters like Thrawn would not work in a 155 minute movie, as introducing him would take quite a bit of time, as he has an established backstory, and did not appear in the movies before. The writers will either take established (movie) characters, or completely new blank slates (Ray, Finn), as there is no backstory to explain.

Before I saw the movie (only available in this dreadful 3D) there was like 5 minutes of advertisement for Star-Wars toys, games and merchandize. This really was a killer for the atmosphere. Made me feel like: "when you are sitting here, you are a man-child, now go online and buy our fan-crap")

I'm not sure it's a continuation if a major character gets killed every movie. Han, Luke, and soon Leia. It just doesn't seem necessary. As a long time Star Wars fan I'd rather have the characters die off screen or simply fade into the background. If the younger generation is being introduced to Star Wars they may have no ties to these characters, and the characters showing up for a few minutes only to die later in the film has got to feel a bit strange from an outsiders perspective.